Patience
by Yes-4-Yuffentine
Summary: "It was either very late or very early when Maria was awoken by the scrape of her door. And this was promptly followed by a thud as whoever it was tripped over the giant black lion lying immediately in front of it."


_04/02/20 Sort of Prequel (if you like) now added to 'Moments', formerly the stand alone oneshot 'Dream', now an expanded collection for halfshots under 1k._

* * *

It was either very late or very early when Maria was awoken by the scrape of her door. And this was promptly followed by a thud as whoever it was tripped over the giant black lion lying immediately in front of it.

"_Wrolf_! What a stupid place to lie you oversized hound!" Her intruder exclaimed, somewhat muffled from their place on the floor. But Maria recognised that voice, and that, along with the fact that Wrolf hadn't leapt up and ripped off the face of whomever it belonged to, as he would have done to anyone else, made her relax.

"_Robin_! What an earth are you doing in here?" She hissed through the darkness. She could just make out his figure as he got to his feet, illuminated by glowing embers in the magnificent stone fire place of the room she was staying in at Castle Black.

"Is there something wrong with a man coming to bid his fiancé goodnight?" Robin asked, sounding affronted and rubbing the wrist that had deflected his fall.

"Yes, there is," Maria replied, "Especially when it's the middle of the night and said man is probably drunk,"

"I'm not drunk," He denied. Maria gave a disbelieving huff, because among other reasons, Robin was not one to usually fall flat on his face like he just had done. "Well, not much," He admitted.

She was still far from convinced by this concession though; when she'd left the great hall to go to bed, it hadn't looked like she'd be followed by anyone else any time soon. She'd been forced to stay overnight at the castle after getting caught out in the forest by a storm. The De Noir castle (known to most as Castle Black), had been far closer than Moonacre Manor, and by the time she'd reached it, drenched to the bone, the forest had become impassable. As this predicament was going make people suspicious enough, being the first to go to bed had been an attempt to remedy this. That way, multiple witness would be to swear to Robin remaining in the hall for most of the night afterwards.

But Maria had realised too late that the chances of anyone actually remembering this fact was pretty slim that was. She'd always found it impressive how much the De Noir clan were able to drink and they never seemed to need any particular reason or special occasion to do so either. She could recall shouts of 'to the Moon Princess!' and 'our future Lady De Noir!' across the hall before the dozens of barrels of mead had appeared though, so she supposed she had somehow provided the excuse this time.

"You still shouldn't be in here," Maria repeated, pulling herself out of her thoughts.

Robin gave a defeated sigh and stepped over Wrolf to his way over to the fire. He threw another log onto the shimmering embers before collapsing onto the nearby armchair, leaning his head against the back of it and closing his eyes.

"I swear I haven't had a single solitary moment alone with you since we got engaged," He mumbled.

Maria's expression softened at his tired and frustrated tone. His familiar form was cast into sharp relief as flickering firelight leapt up to consume the new log and in the work of a moment, she'd pushed her blankets off, swung her legs free and quietly padded over to where he was so gracelessly sprawled.

"As soon as you're engaged you're no longer trust-worthy it seems," She mused, perching herself on the arm of his chair, "Less so than when you're not, which is utterly illogical since that's when I really would have been trouble if you'd taken advantage of me,"

Robin opened his eyes to look at her, eyebrows raised. "And just how would I have done that when Wrolf followed you everywhere you went, probably under instructions from your uncle to stop me from so much as touching you?" He tugged her down from her precarious perch and into his lap.

"Wrolf isn't under the personal command of any Merryweather, or De Noir for that matter," Maria pointed out, adjusting herself into a more comfortable position and leaning against his chest.

"He's still your designated protector," Robin wrapped his arms loosely around her waist as she settled.

"And so are you," She murmured softly, tracing her fingers over his cheekbone.

He sighed again, closing his eyes and leaning his head atop hers. "Not in the eyes of the rest of the world I'm not. Not until I've married you,"

"Well, we're half way there now," Maria replied lightly. This answer didn't seem to console Robin much however, and she could sense the agitation wound up within him, feel the tension beneath her hand on his chest. After a few moments, he opened his eyes, his gaze falling on Wrolf, who was stretched fast asleep across the flagstones.

"He's doing a brilliant job guarding you at the moment isn't he isn't he?" He scoffed, "Useless beast,"

"Well he knows you're not a threat," Maria pointed out.

"Oh but I might be," A gleam appeared in Robin's eyes, "I could be here to compromise you, you know," His hand slid around her side and his lips brushed against her throat, "Just a bit..."

"Robin," Maria warned. But he continued, letting his lips gliding up her neck, around to the edge of her jaw and sending shivers racing up her spine. "_Robin_," She pulled away, glaring at him.

"Oh, but it's fine when you're in the mood isn't it?" He demanded, "We weren't even engaged then..."

"No. But we were certainly were afterwards weren't we?" A sly smile curved across her lips.

"So that's what it was all about?" Robin demanded again, but sounding both amused and indignant this time, "Was I really so easy to seduce?"

"Yes," Maria answered shortly, "In fact you'd have agreed to anything,"

Robin let his head fall back against the top of the chair, groaning. "I'm not sure what was worse, you talking about other men or the fact you were doing it from my lap,"

"I was fed up of them. And you wouldn't have done anything about it otherwise. All my subtler hints were bouncing off that thick skull of yours so I had to go to the other extreme,"

"Well, _thick skulled _or not, you got what you wanted in the end didn't you? Although I didn't know then that we'd have to go through this ridiculously long engagement,"

Maria sighed, leaning her head back against his chest as they arrived back at that same subject again. "I suppose that's what happens when you get engaged at my age. Everyone thinks you're too young to be sure of yourself."

"Not around here they don't, its perfectly normal by De Noir standards. You're of age. It's only your uncle and your governess who are up in arms about it,"

"And your sister," Maria added absently as her fingers toyed with the low neck of his shirt.

"My own _sister _was against me?" Robin demanded.

"No, not _against _you. She's been plotting for years to get us together; I think she was actually disappointed we managed it on our own without help from any of her mad schemes. But she did tell me afterwards that while she was overjoyed that we wanted to get married, she thought that waiting was a good idea, since it was easy to get caught up in a rush of passion, and marriage was about more than just attraction, which we might confuse with love,"

Robin gave an unimpressed snort. "_She's _one to talk. There's no way George was conceived after she got married. Not given how soon afterwards he was born,"

"I did point that out. She just informed me that she had been far older and had already known my uncle for years,"

Robin made another annoyed noise, "Yes, all of a few months before she disappeared into the woods for years away from everyone. Its been almost six years since I've known you now. I think she needs to get her facts straight,"

"You don't need to tell _me_. Hypocrisy aside, its hardly a very good argument in the first place. Especially since most of the girls I knew in London are all married now, and to men they hardly knew at all before they ended up at the alter with them..."

"Well, maybe that's the real issue," Robin muttered darkly, looking away and frowning into the fire, "I'm not exactly on the same social level as them, am I?"

Maria frowned herself. "Of course you're not," She answered, sitting back and directing his gaze into hers so she could look him straight in the eye, "You're _far _superior,"

Robin cracked his usual cocky grin at this. But as Maria shifted to curl comfortably back into his chest again, legs thrown over his, forcing herself to fit around him in the too-small-armchair, she didn't notice how quickly it faded away again. A few moments of silence passed between them as she lay with her head contentedly against his shoulder and he absently played with one of her long, fiery curls.

When he spoke again, his voice was quiet."You are still sure aren't you?"

"What?" Maria abruptly drew back again, "Robin _of course I am_. I'd marry you tomorrow if I could," She pushed his unruly hair away from his face so she could search his face better, feeling a sudden flare of anxiousness herself. "What about you?"

"What about me?" He asked.

"Well, it's like you said, you didn't realise you'd have to wait so long when you first asked me. Anyone else and you wouldn't have to put up with this ridiculous delay..."

"I don't want anyone else," Robin over-rode her firmly. His grin suddenly returned, "After all, who else would boss me about, shout at me, drive me mad and drag me about the forest as if she owns the place?"

"Who else would put up with _you_, you mean," Maria answered, prodding his chest.

"Of course they would, I'm the De Noir heir. But no-one else would love me for all my _other _wonderful qualities,"

"Yes, well, they say being in love makes you a fool," Maria repressed the urge to roll her eyes. He smiled and wrapped his arms tighter around her as she lay her head back on his shoulder.

"I'll wait as long as I have to," He promised, "I just thought getting engaged was supposed to make things easier. I'm fed up not being allowed to see you, I'm not used to it. And I know you have Wrolf to look after you but I'll rest easier when I can go back to keeping a close eye on you too,"

Maria bit her lip at this, since it was true; Robin had been regarded as much as a protector as Wrolf and she'd spent much of her time exploring the forest over the past six years with him. But the announcement that they wanted to get married six months ago had for some reason changed things in her family's eyes. They'd begun insisting that she could no longer spend time unchaperoned with him and despite the many arguments on this subject she'd had with them, pointing out the ridiculousness of it, they had remained unmoveable on the subject.

She'd come to the conclusion that it was some sort of test, because she knew her uncle had come to like Robin, so it wasn't disapproval of him that was causing his stubbornness on the subject. Miss Heliotrope's reaction had been expected, but Loveday's had surmounted to a downright betrayal in Maria's eyes given how sure she's been that she's have her aunt's full support.

Her hand strayed across his chest, her finger tips tracing patterns across his skin where it was exposed at the neck of his shirt. "Well, we could always elope..." She suggested halfheartedly.

"You don't want to upset your family," He reminded her quietly, and it wasn't phrased as an accusation or complaint, just a statement of understanding.

"No." She admitted after a long pause, "I don't,"

"Then we wait," Robin replied simply. And Maria smiled, closing her eyes and feeling her chest swell with love and contentment as his arms tightened around her. His lips pressed against her forehead before he rested his chin on the top of her head. "...I just hope to god we won't have to wait even longer afterwards..."

"We agreed to wait a year, and I'm not waiting a day longer," Maria informed him in a determined tone, the very same she's used when she'd said 'I must do this myself' before striding to the cliff's edge with the Moon Pearls. "Loveday will just have to live with the disappointment because if she is planning some sort of huge, elaborate wedding that takes another year to plan then we _are _eloping,"

Robin grinned into her hair, "Is that a promise?"

"Yes," Maria turned, looking up into his face, "It is,"

"Then I'll hold you to it," He vowed, leaning down. Maria smiled, sliding her hand across his face as she lent up to meet him.

She would count on it.

* * *

_Happy New Year! I had actually intended to get a New Year themed oneshot up, which I've had notes for since last spring, but I just can't get the ending right on it and I've over-read and over-edited it now, so looks like it'll be up late. This was a drabble I wrote when I got stuck trying to write one of my multi-chaptered stories with actual plot. The only idea that brought it out was the image of Robin and Maria curled up in an armchair together in front of a fire, and it just sort of blossomed from there..._

_I promised myself I'd only post it when I'd finished something multi-chaptered, but since that was a while ago now, and this was actually finished, I thought I might as well post it. There's a halfshot prequel that sort of goes with it too, but I think i'll change the current stand alone 'Dream' into a collection of halfshots under 1000 words, since it doesn't necessarily have to be read just as a prequel to this, and I'm already spamming the Moonacre page._

_It was pretty disheartening not to get any reviews on my last Moonacre upload. Its getting just as may views as my other stories, so hopefully that means people like it. I really can't reiterate enough how important it is for writers to get feedback, so please consider supporting the author of any story your read by dropping a line. Even the smallest comment can go such a long way!_

_I hope you enjoyed this, and, again, Happy New Year!_


End file.
